W. Robert Shearer
Partner
Areas of Focus
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Private Equity Transactions
- Joint Ventures & Strategic Alliances
- Energy & Infrastructure
- Conventional Power
- Oil & Gas
- Midstream Oil & Gas
- Oilfield Services
- Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage
- Energy Transition
- Projects & Energy Transition
- CleanTech & ClimateTech
- Energy Storage
- Wind
- Solar
- Geothermal
- Bioenergy
- Renewable Energy
- Energy & Infrastructure Private Equity
- Private Capital
- Over 25 years of experience guiding public and private companies and private equity funds in strategic corporate transactions.
- Advised on more than 100 mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and capital raising transactions.
Rob represents companies and private equity investors in complex corporate transactions. With a strong focus on the traditional & renewable energy and infrastructure industries, he guides clients through the nuances of public and private mergers & acquisitions, venture capital and growth equity investments, joint ventures and corporate governance matters.
Clients trust Rob to provide practical and proactive advice during the course of highly consequential deals. He regularly advises on cutting-edge transactions to support clients seizing opportunities in the energy transition, including in connection with carbon capture, sequestration and utilization, hydrogen, utility-scale solar and energy storage, renewable natural gas and geothermal projects.
While in law school, Rob served as editor-in-chief of the Houston Law Review.
Mergers & Acquisitions
-
Tellurian (NYSE: TELL) in its definitive agreement to merge with Woodside Energy in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $900 million.
- Represented Innovex, a leading provider of mission-critical technologies and services across the well lifecycle for the oil & gas industry, in its definitive agreement to merge with Dril-Quip (NYSE: DRQ).
- Advised Spire Inc. in its agreement to acquire MoGas Pipeline, an interstate natural gas pipeline, and Omega Pipeline, a connected gas distribution system, from CorEnergy Infrastructure Trust, Inc., for $175 million.
- Advised Excelsior Energy Capital, a leading independent North American renewable energy investor, in its acquisition of Faraday Solar, a 682.5-MW ground-mounted solar facility in Utah, from Parasol and Clenera.
- Represented CenterPoint Energy Inc. in its agreement to sell Energy Systems Group, its wholly-owned subsidiary that specializes in providing energy efficiency and sustainable energy solutions, to ESG Holdings Group, LLC, an affiliate of Oaktree Capital Management, for $157 million.
EducationJ.D., University of Houston Law Center, magna cum laude, 1994
B.B.A., University of Texas at Austin, with high honors, 1991
J.D., University of Houston Law Center, magna cum laude, 1994
B.B.A., University of Texas at Austin, with high honors, 1991
Bar AdmissionsTexas
Texas
- The Legal 500 US, Capital Markets: Debt: Advice to issuers, Energy: Transactions: Oil and Gas and M&A: Middle-Market ($500-999m), 2019.
- The Best Lawyers in America, Mergers & Acquisitions Law, 2016-2018.
- Member, Houston Bar Association M&A Section Council.
- Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.
- Co-Presenter, “Getting the Deal Done: Navigating Key Legal Issues in M&A Transactions,” The Association of Corporate Counsel, Houston, Texas, May 2019.
- Panelist, “Energy SPACs: Recent Deals and Trends” CLE, Houston, March 20, 2019.
- Panelist, “Akin Jeopardy! Ethics in Antitrust and M&A,” Houston, November 13, 2018.
- Panelist, “Outside Counsel Perspectives, CenterPoint Energy,” Outside Counsel Forum, Houston, June 2018.